The 1906 San Francisco earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 on the MMS scale. At the same time there was an earthquake with magnitude 7.4 that caused only minor damage. How many times more intense was the San Francisco earthquake than the South American one?

Question

anonymous · Answer

richter scale used log base ten

anonymous · Answer

since $7.9-7.4=.5$  the first earthquake is $10^{.5}$ more powerful

aum · Answer

MMS also uses log base 10 and so the same answer as above.